Peanut picker



July 17, 1923.

1,462,123 T.- PHELPs PEANUT PICKER Filed April 27 1920 3 sheets-sheet 1INVENTOR. llfP//MS Pla/IFS .4 TTORNE Y.

July" 1?, 1923. 1,462,123

` T. l. PHELPS PEANUT PICKER Filed Abril 2'7 .1 1920 25 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTo-R.

WMP/wz 05 /3 PAI/a PS A TT ORNE Y.

T. l. PHELPS PEANUT PICKER Filed April 27 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 .July-17,l 1923. 1.462.123

BY MQ A TTORNE Y.

. To all. @from t may concern: y ,f

y Patented July 17, 1923.

- j UNI-IED!STATES 1,462,123 PA TEN ,T5 OFFICE;

riiiorHiLUsr; PHELPs, orwooDvILLE, vNorvrrr cARoLrNA.

` rsAnUf'r .PICKER I Appiicationfalea iiprii'a?, 19am` serial no.377,080.

PHELrs, a citizen ofthe United States, re,- sidino' at lVoodville, inthe countyof Bertie and btatel of North Carolina, havev inventedcertain. new and useful Improvements in Peanut Pickers, of ywhichthegjOllowing is a Beit known thatA I, ,'.Ii-iiiorHiLusv I..

specification. v y

The present invention relates to' mecha-j nism for separating peanutsfrom the vines,

removing the stems and carrying ofi' chaff and other matter tobedisposed ofand is designed chiefly-as an improvement ony the machinedisclosed in Patent No." 1,308,295, granted me January th, 1920.; f YThe invention aims ,to simplify `the construction, reduce the numberVoli/working parts and render the. machineas al whole more eiiicient andless liable to derangement because of the reduced number ofparts and 'fcompact structure. 4 l

The drawings illustrate va'preferredem` ,bodiment of the invention.,"However, it is 'tobe understood that 'in adapting the same to `meetdifferent conditions',.various changes 'f in the form,rproportion,-andminor details "l tachedz-l l ofconstruction maybe resorted to withoutdeparting from thev nature ofthe invention as claimed hereinafter. o i fReferring to the drawings v hereto at- F ig. l is a sidevelevationof apeanut pickinfr machine embodying` the invention. l y

.y ig. 2 is a View similar toF ig. lofthe reverse side of the machine.'v f ,Figi 3 is a sectionalwdetail on theline 3*-3 i of Fig; 2-lookinginthe directionofthearf;

rows.

F ig. 4 is a sectional detailv showing moreclearly the stemmingmechanism and the fan blower forcarryingiofl' chaff and-like matter.; ii *l ,Y y.

Figure 5 is' a fragmentaryplan ofthe stemming mechanism. i y dCorrespondingand-.like parts vare referred vto-inthe followingr`description andindicated in the several` views of the drawings by likereferencecharactersl .o f

kThe machine embodies a suitable frame work l, which. isl mounted l uponwheels 2 for convenience .of- -Ltransportation y The framework-l maybeof any construction and design best adapted to support .theworkingarts.y The pickingy mechanism is disposed o at the top of thev machineand comprisesl a,

table 3, an endless conveyor 4.and abreast framejandscreen asfindicatedmost clearly in Fig.v3 and is. disposed beneath `,and adjacent the upperrun vof ythe Aendless conveyor 4. The vines` are directed .to the pickertai 5`.'The'pickertable comprises a'suitable ble bymeans of a chute 5which is preferably located at the lowerl end of the picker l table. thelatter being preferably inclined to the horizontal. The breast 5 isdisposed `above the upperrun of the endless conveyor f vand comprisesfasuitable frame and picker 'Y teeth.l vThe upper run of ytheendlessconveyor 4 isdisposed between the breast 5 and the picker table 3. yTheendless conveyor 4 may be of any suitable construction and embodies aVplurality of ypicker teeth which co- The picker-table is relativelyfixed, whereasy the pan 6 is mounted to receive a vibratory movement to`lcause the peanuts to move thereoverto the lower end. Ak shaft 7k is isprovided` with spur wheels` to receive lthe endless chain of theconveyor 4. A shaft 8 located at the rearlend of theframe l and islocated near the lower forward end of the frame l and is.; provided fwith spur Wheels around which pass the chains comprising the endlessconveyor 4. As shown most clearly in Figs 1 and 2 the endless conveyor 4comprises upper,- lower, front and rear runs, fthe upper and lower runsbeing approximately'` parallel, whereas the front and rear runs areupwardly divergentfrom the' s hafts and 8. Movement may beimparteddtoanyone of the shafts provided with spur wheels e which engage ,the chainsof the endless conveyor'4. -As shown in the drawings, a band pulley 9fissecured to one end of the upper rearshaft and a drive belt 1.0 passes`therearound and imparts motion thereto, said drive belt deriving powerfrom a suitable source, vnot shown. f

movement imparted thereto. As shown a The panG is mounted to have avibratory pitinan l1, connects the vpan with a wrist pin z rotatablewith the shaft at the upper'forward end of the frame provided with, thef spur wheels around ywhich, the upper forwardportion ofthe endlessconveyor passes.

The pan` 6 receives'- the peanuts from the picker mechanism and deliversthem to a shaking' table 12, which is located below the delivery end ofthe pan 6. The shaking table 12 is disposed horizontally and is mountedso as to maintain a position parallel to a given position at all stagesof its movement. A longitudinal shaft 13 located at one side of themachine is provided with a cra-nk pin 14, which is connected byy meansof a pitman 15 with the shaking table 12 so as to impart a-vibratorymovement thereto. The shaft 13 is 'suitably geared to a transverse shaft16 by means of bevel gearing 17. The opposite end of the transverseshaft 16 is provided with a band pulley 18 around which the drive belt10 passes.

The stemming mechanism is located below theshaking table 12 andcomprises a pan 19 which is mounted in such a manner as to admit of avibratory movement beingimparted thereto. A pitman 20 connects thepan-19 with a crank pin 21 rotatable with the shaft v7. A plurality ofsaws 22 cooperate with the pan 19 and are mounted thereon and operatethrough slots formed therein. The sawsjproject above the plate 19r adistance to engagewith the stems of the pea nuts andefect separationthereof. The series of saws are driven in any convenient way and, asshownv most clearly in Fig. 2, a drive chain 23 engages sprocket wheelsprovided at one end of the saw arbors and also engages a sprocketwheel'secured to an end of the shaft 7. The pan 19 inclines in anopposite direction to the pan 6 and delivers the peanuts into atransversely arranged trough 24 which discharges the peanuts at one sideof the machine into a suitable receptacle provided for their reception.A screw conveyor 25 operates in the trough 24 to effect a positivedischarge of the peanuts therefrom. The shaft of the screw conveyor 25is provided at one end with a spur wheel which receives the drive chain23. This is shown most clearly in Fig. 2.

rA fan blower 2 6 of any approved construction is located upon the frame1 and its spout '27 overhangs the delivery portion of thepan 19 andv isinclined so`as to deliver a blast of air over the pan 19 and between itand the vtable 12, whereby to carry olf chafll and other lightobjectionable matter. The fan shaft is provided at one end with a pulley28, around which the drive belt 10 passes. An idle pulley 29 is disposedadj acent the pulley 28 and gives direction to the drive belt 1U whichpasses therearound,

' as indicated most clearly in Fig. 1.

The vines, as gathered from the fieldwith the peanuts attached thereto,are fed to the machinein any desired way and are directed tothe vpickertable 3 by means of the chute breast' 'and endless conveyor 4. The vineso. `The nuts are -'detached from the vines by means of picker teethcarried by thel are discharged at the rear ofthe machine or' othermatter that may tend to cling thereto. The peanuts drop from the shakingtable 12 and are received upon the pan 19 of the stemming mechanism andthe stems are removed by the rotary cutters or saws 22, in a mannerwellr understood, The peanuts in their descent from the shaking tableare subjected to the blast f of air discharging from the spout-27 ofthefan blower.- This blast of air carries off chaff and light'particles. The stems separated from the peanuts are likewise carriedofi' by the blastof air and the peanuts are discharged from the pan 19into the trough 24 and are finally delivered at the side of the machineinto a suitably located receptacle arranged for their reception. v

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim asnew anddesire'to secure by VLetters latent is f 1. A peanut cleaning machinecomprising a conveyor having upper, lower, front and rear runs, shaftsand sprockets for kthe corners Yof the' conveyor,y means cooperatingwith the upper runof the conveyor to provide a picking mechanism, avibrating table disposed below the picker mechanism to re vceive peanutstherefrom, a pitmanvconnectnamed vibrating table and driven by said lastnamed shaft, a stemming mechanism arranged beneath ysaid second namedvibrating table and including rotary saws, a plurality of sprocketwheels, rapluralit'y of sprocket wheels for driving the saws, and avsprocket chains engaging all of said sprocket wheels.

2. A peanut cleaning machine comprising a conveyor havingupper, lower,front and rear runs, vshafts and sprockets for the corners of theconveyor, means cooperating with the upper run of the conveyor to`provide a picking mechanism, la vibrating table disposed below thepicking mechanism, a recip rocating stemming mechanism arranged beneaththe vibratingtable, and a pitman connected to each'vibrating andrecpirocating mehanism, said pitman being connected to diagonallydisposed vsprockets of said conveyor.` 4`

A peanut cleaning mechanism compris@ ing a conveyor, ymeans`'cooperatingwith ashaft, a second gear meshing 'with the first runthereof and constituting a picking me'ch-` named gear, and apitmanconnected to said anism, means forv driving the conveyor, a ksecondnamed gear and to the second named vibrating ltalole situated beneaththe pickvibrating table foroperatingthe latter.

5 ing mechanism and inclined downwardly 'In testimony whereof I affix mysignature 15 toward one end of the machine, aseo-` in presence of-twoWitnesses.`

ond vibrating table arranged below the L v 7 l vTHEOPHILUS I. PHELPS. yf, delivery Aendl` of the first named Vibrating Vitnesses.' c i y table,a shaft `driven fromfsaid means .for L. W. THOMPSON,

10 driving the conveyor, a gear carried yby said n D. GARRIS.

